— In Whitefish, Montana, outdoor recreation is the most important reason why residents stay and visitors come to the community. On the Whitefish Trail, 22,000 annual uses by visitors (30% of total use) generates $3.6 million in spending and supports 68 jobs.
read moreof The Economic Impact of Outdoor Recreation and the Whitefish Trail in Whitefish, MontanaMontana
Trail Usage and Value: A Helena, MT Case Study
— In Helena, Montana, an 80-mile hiking and mountain biking trail system attracts more than 63,000 trail users during the summer. Seven in 10 users are residents, but visitors who use the trail system account for $4 million in spending, support 60 jobs, and generate $185,000 in state and local taxes.
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Montana’s Outdoor Recreation Economy
— A new report highlights the role of Montana’s outdoor recreation economy in spending, jobs, and economic diversification.
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New Montana Homes Increase Wildfire Risks
— The number of western Montana homes in areas with high wildfire hazard has doubled, outpacing development rates in areas with low wildfire hazard.
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Economic Impact of National Parks
— This interactive and background materials show visits, spending, and the number of jobs created in gateway communities for every National Park Service unit.
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Gallatin County’s Economy, Growth, and Open Space
— This report summarizes Gallatin County's economy, how it has grown, and what is driving its performance. The report also describes how growth threatens open space and the role these lands play in local quality of life.
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Measuring Whitefish Trail Use
— Outdoor recreation and the economic impact of Whitefish Trail use in Whitefish, Montana.
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Montana Losing Open Space
— From 1990 to 2016, the number of single-family homes in Montana grew by 50 percent, and the popularity of large lots converted 1.3 million acres of undeveloped land to housing.
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Montana Losing Open Space: Sortable Data
— Review the different rates of home construction and loss of open space across Montana counties.
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Benefits of a Frontage Path in Gallatin County, Montana
— Updated: This report describes the benefits of a frontage path--a proposed paved, multi-use pathway connecting Belgrade and Bozeman along an approximately ten-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 10 in Gallatin County.
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Planning Tools to Reduce Montana’s Wildfire Risk
— County governments, fire districts and service areas, and landowners have many opportunities to reduce wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface through land use planning tools and strategies, though challenges in Montana’s regulatory framework remain.
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Montana’s Economy, Public Lands, and Competitive Advantage
— This report summarizes Montana’s economy analyzing recent growth and what is driving its performance, including a description of how federal lands help attract people, investment, and businesses.
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Mark Haggerty
The Context and Status of Colstrip’s Coal-Fired Power Plant
— A guide to planning for the long-term social, economic and environmental well-being of the community of Colstrip, Montana.
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Rural Economic Development in Lincoln, Montana
— Many rural western towns face economic uncertainty. This report—informed by interviews and public meetings with residents—compares Lincoln to peer communities and outlines rural economic development options building on the town’s strengths.
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Planning for Montana’s Energy Transition
— While Montana is likely to experience relatively small impacts, coal-dependent communities in Eastern Montana are likely to feel the acute effects of job losses and declining tax revenue in the coming decades.
read moreof Planning for Montana’s Energy TransitionYellowstone-Grand Teton Loop Bicycle Pathway Estimated Economic Impact
— A 262-mile cycle touring loop connecting Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, with significant portions on non-motorized pathways, has the potential to generate important economic activity in the small communities through which it would pass. However, due to the challenges of estimating economic impact across a large area and areas close to national parks, the use and economic impact estimates are likely overstated.
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Home Construction in the High Divide
— The High Divide region, recognized as one of the most intact biological areas in the lower 48 states, is attracting many new residents and home construction is changing the landscape.
read moreof Home Construction in the High DivideAnalysis of Touring Cyclists: Impacts, Needs and Opportunities for Montana
— This study found that cycle tourists in Montana spend an average of $76 per day and stay eight days in the state during their trip, much longer than the average tourist. Safety is cycle tourists’ top priority, so supporting more cycle touring in the state requires investments in safer routes, including narrower rumble strips, wider shoulders, and bike paths separate from roadways in high-traffic, high-speed areas.
read moreof Analysis of Touring Cyclists: Impacts, Needs and Opportunities for MontanaMontana Recreational Snowmobiles: Fuel-Use and Spending Patterns 2013
— This study found that snowmobiling is associated with high daily spending in Montana, with the average resident snowmobiler spending $108 per day and the average non-resident spending $148 per day. Despite the 4,000 miles of groomed trails available in the state, snowmobiling remains primarily an activity enjoyed by residents, who accounted for 93 percent of snowmobiling days in 2013.
read moreof Montana Recreational Snowmobiles: Fuel-Use and Spending Patterns 2013Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment Survey: Findings Report
— This study found that while 70 percent of Missoula residents were willing to pay more taxes to acquire open space and build new trails and recreation facilities, still more (77%) were willing to pay more taxes to maintain existing facilities. Eighty-six percent of all residents had used City parks in the previous 12 months, highlighting the importance of within-community trails even in rural areas with public lands nearby.
read moreof Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment Survey: Findings ReportTrails on Tribal Lands in the United States
— This study found that the benefits of trails in Indian Country may be more significant than in other communities that are less culturally or spatially fragmented, less politically and economically marginalized, or less culturally tied to the landscape. Trails can provide particularly valuable benefits to residents of Indian Country, helping to improve residents’ quality of life in several dimensions: connecting tribal members to each other and to culturally significant sites and natural resources; providing safe alternative transportation routes across the reservation; providing opportunities for safe exercise; and providing opportunities for economic development and cultural education.
read moreof Trails on Tribal Lands in the United StatesTeton-West Yellowstone Region Backcountry Winter Recreation Economic Impact Analysis
— This study found that participants in backcountry, non-motorized winter recreation generate a substantial economic, employment, and fiscal impact in the Teton-West Yellowstone region. This is the only study we are aware of that assesses the impact of this type of recreation.
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Economic Opportunities in the Blackfoot Watershed
— This report provides an overview of the Blackfoot River watershed’s economy and summarizes the findings from six focus groups that explored potential economic opportunities.
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Kelly Pohl
Understanding the Recreation Economy on Nearby Public Lands
— How can communities measure and take advantage of the economic impacts of nearby outdoor recreation activities on public lands?
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Three Wests Sortable Data
— Review the economic and demographic differences between Metro, Connected and Isolated counties.
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Montana Oil Tax Policy: No Long-Term Savings, Exposure to Volatility
— This report compares how Montana provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.
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Restoring the Clark Fork River
— Headwaters Economics worked with the Clark Fork Coalition, U.S. Forest Service, and others to create an interactive tool that describes many of the stories behind the ongoing recovery of the Clark Fork River.
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West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Montana Jobs and Higher Incomes
— Montana's recent economic growth and the role of protected public lands in supporting employment creation and higher per-capita income are explored in this report.
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Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front
— This report analyzes the Front’s land, people, and economy, how the region has changed in important ways during the past several decades, and the potential impact of the proposed Rocky Mountain Heritage Act on the Front.
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Unconventional Oil and North Dakota Communities: State Fiscal Policy Unprepared for Impacts of Energy Development
— This report analyzes the growing infrastructure and services needs of the Bakken boom and meeting the demands of unconventional energy development.
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Clean Energy Transmission
— Headwaters Economics analyzed transmission infrastructure issues from the perspective of regional economic development, and other topics most relevant to local and state decision makers.
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County Level Drilling Activity, 2001-2011
— This report focuses on county-level details of drilling rig activity for the period 2001 to 2011 in the six Rocky Mountain oil and gas states of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
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Preparing Missoula County for a Changing Climate
— A report on socioeconomic conditions of Missoula County as part of public process of developing a climate change adaptation plan.
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Missoula County Homes at Risk in Flood and Wildfire Areas
— These two slideshows and related information use Missoula County and Western Montana to show how many homes have been built in flood and wildfire hazard areas, which are vulnerable to larger and more frequent floods and fires.
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Fossil Fuel Extraction and Western Economies
— This study analyzes the fossil fuel economy in five Rocky Mountain states—CO, MT, NM, UT, and WY—and how states and communities can maximize benefits and minimize the costs of energy development.
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Crown of the Continent and Climate Change
— This report studies the possible effects of climate change in the Crown of the Continent on two “snow-pack” dependent sectors of the economy--downhill skiing and recreational fishing.
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Yellowstone River Atlas
— This site documents the economic and demographic conditions of counties bordering the Yellowstone River, and displays maps showing past, current, and forecasted residential development along the river.
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Clean Energy Leadership in the Rockies: Competitive Positioning in the Emerging Green Economy
— The Clean Energy report compares how Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are taking advantage of clean energy and energy efficiency opportunities to create green jobs.
read moreof Clean Energy Leadership in the Rockies: Competitive Positioning in the Emerging Green EconomyPress Release: Clean Energy in the Rockies Report Released
— Study Shows Which States Are Attracting Jobs, Businesses, and Investment; Five Key Steps to Future Growth
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Potential Impacts of Energy Development in Montana, with a Case Study of the Powder River Basin
— This report focuses on the economic and fiscal contributions of the oil and natural gas industries in Montana, including a case study of the Powder River Basin.
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Fiscal Impact of the Montana Legacy Project
— These studies review the fiscal impact on Mineral and Lake counties of the Montana Legacy Project.
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Land Use Effects of Paving Rural Roads
— This report, a first step toward understanding how paving rural roads impacts land use, reviewed eight projects in western Montana
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Montana Wildfire Cost Study- Technical Report
— This report examines how residential development adds to the costs of fighting wildfires, using Montana as a case study.
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